Widowed by cancer, a Waterloo woman wants to see screening return to pre-pandemic levels

Jane Mitchell sat in her car in the parking lot of the Grand River Hospital listening on the phone as her husband sat in an office across from an oncologist.

She wasn't allowed to go inside the hospital with him on that day in October 2020 because of COVID-19 protocols.

She listened as the oncologist told John he had stage four esophageal cancer. He had six months, maybe a year to live.

Mitchell heard her husband crying in the office alone.

In the car, she wept, too.

"That was pretty tough," Mitchell says.

What followed were incredibly difficult and exhausting months of helping John feel comfortable as the cancer spread, says the former regional councillor and past executive director of HopeSpring Cancer Support Centre in Waterloo.

There were appointments with doctors by phone. Sometimes, Mitchell took photos of John in his deteriorating state to send to doctors.

"He did have some chemotherapy and radiation," Mitchell said. "One time his oncologist said to me, 'Oh, don't you like that radiologist with his nice little beard?' And I said to her, 'I have never met that man.' And I thought to myself, and I have never met you either because it was all over the phone."

Their daughter came to live with them to help care for her dad. The family didn't move John into hospice out of fear they might not be able to be with him at the end. 

John died on May 22 of this year with his family beside him.

Mitchell says she has heard about people being hesitant to go see doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to missed scheduled cancer screenings.

She said her husband went for regular cancer screenings and his illness wasn't caught — but she urged people both to continue to get screened and not to ignore unusual symptoms.

"If you're just feeling unwell generally and you seem to be losing your appetite and sleeping … go to the doctor," she said. "I know people worry, 'Oh, it'll be nothing. I'm bothering the doctor.' No, just go be checked just to make sure that you're OK, because it can sneak up on you."